The survey collects information about family income, net worth, credit use and other financial outcomes.

The findings from the 2025 survey, published this month, suggest that most families experienced moderate increases in income and net worth between 2022 and 2025, but credit card debt increased and the proportion of families who reported being behind with bills had also increased.

In its analysis, the Federal Reserve said that against a backdrop of moderate economic expansion and elevated inflation, "the 2025 SCF indicates that while most families experienced moderate increases in income and net worth, an increasing subset of families appear to have been experiencing financial stress".

According to the research, real median family income, which is measured for the year before the survey, rose 7% between the 2022 to 2025 surveys to $82,200, and real mean family income fell 6% to $145,200. Families in the lower ends of the income and net worth distributions saw modest increases in median and mean income, while families in the upper ends saw declines.

Between 2022 and 2025, real median net worth rose by 2% to $215,900, while real mean net worth rose by 7% to $1.24m. According to the survey findings, most families across the net worth and income distributions experienced increases in median and mean wealth.

However, the share of families that reported being behind on loan payments increased from about 12% to almost 20% between 2022 and 2025 – meaning that families were more likely to be behind on their financial obligations than at any point since the 2010 survey.

While the proportion of families with credit card debt was roughly unchanged at 45%, the survey found that median credit card debt had increased $150 to $3,100 and mean credit card debt grew from $1,300 to $8,000.

The research found that families led by someone aged 75 or over recorded the largest increase in income, with median income for these families growing by 24% in three years. For families headed by someone aged 35-44, median income grew by 3%.

Mean income declined 25% for families aged 35-44, which the Federal Reserve attributed to declines in capital gains income.

The survey is conducted for the Board by NORC, a social science research organisation at the University of Chicago. The research selects participants at random from 119 geographic areas, including metropolitan areas and rural counties across the United States, using scientific sampling procedures that aim to produce a sample representative of American families.